Song of the Siren
by BirdSpell
Summary: <html><head></head>The siren's tear. The greatest treasure any pirate can ever gain. Captain Arthur Kirkland and Captain Wang Yao are in a race for this fabled treasure, and the winner gets a prize far greater than any other: Mastery of the Seas, and a siren to keep as their own.</html>


**Hey people~! So this is mimi-chan and aliling-chan's oneshot. The request was for EnglandvsChina and also Japan, so I figured pirate AU and ChuNi, because that's just how I roll.**

**Kiku: Really? This is what you chose to do with me?**

**Go back to Broken Assassin, Kiku. Besides, it's not that bad. Hey, as you're here, you may as well do the disclaimer.**

**Kiku: *sighs* BirdSpell does not own Hetalia, sirens, or pirates.**

**Much as I wish I did. Now, back to Broken Assassin with you!**

**Don't mind Kiku. He's just mad because of what I'm planning for him in Broken Assassin. But you guys don't really care about that, do you? On with the story!**

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

"A siren, you say~aru?"

Captain Arthur Kirkland nodded, smirking deviously. "Yes. First one to collect a siren's tear is indisputable Master of the Seas. Sound fair?"

Captain Wang Yao glared across the table at his long-time rival. "How do I know you won't cheat?"

The British captain rested a hand on his heart. "I swear on the life of the Queen, God bless her soul, that I will obey the terms."

Yao nodded, holding out a hand. "Deal."

They shook. Then Alfred, Arthur's first mate, burst out laughing.

"What's so funny~aru?"

Arthur sighed, rolling his green eyes. "Bring him in."

Two pirates shoved a bedraggled looking creature in, all bound up in chains. Arthur stood and went to crouch beside the creature; which, now that it was still, looked disturbingly like a young boy. The captain grabbed it by its hair and pulled its head up, and Yao couldn't help his shocked gasp.

It _was_ a boy. He couldn't be older than seventeen or so. His face was smeared with mud and blood, and there was a gag covering his mouth, but even so, Yao could see he was breathtakingly, impossibly beautiful.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he cried, outraged. "Pirating is one thing, but capturing an innocent boy-"

"This is no mere _boy_," Arthur smirked. "_This_ is a siren." He grinned smugly. "Nowhere in our terms did it say I couldn't have a siren before we started. All I have to do is make him cry. Good luck, _Captain Wang._"

The boy's—siren's—eyes followed him all the way to the door as Arthur dragged his captive away. Yao rested his head on the table. "I'm such a fool~aru…"

The siren's tear. It was said it could cure any disease. Any injury. But the siren would cry only in times of great joy or despair, and only before someone they loved and trusted.

"Even if that boy is a siren," Yao said to himself, already feeling better, "he'll never cry for Arthur. And what better way to prove my superiority than to steal his siren from right under his nose? That boy will be grateful I saved him. He'll trust me. I'll win easily!"

But even as Yao plotted and schemed ways to capture the siren for himself, he couldn't forget the boy's terrified dark eyes.

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

"C'mon, boy. If you just cry, we'll let you go, okay? Just one tear."

The siren glared up at Arthur. "I would rather die."

The blond pirate smirked, tangling his hand in the siren's raven hair. "I could arrange that."

"Go ahead. I don't care." The creature's eyes were dark and frightened, but he was telling the truth. He honestly didn't care if Arthur killed him. The pirate growled, sending the siren stumbling into the hold and slamming the cover down on top of him. He stormed away, bringing his crew with him. Behind him, the frustrating creature began to sing a wordless tune.

"Fucking thing," Arthur muttered. "Why can't it just cry and be done with it?"

The siren… A creature at the heart of many myths and legends of the sea. It took the form of a beautiful young man or woman, more incredible than any human living. But that was just it; a siren wasn't a human. You couldn't expect it to react as a human would, and it would just as soon kill you as sing for you. Arthur sat calmly in his cabin and thought. He'd win this contest, without a doubt.

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

The siren's song was haunting.

As Yao clung to the side of Arthur's flagship, he found himself transfixed by the gentle melody that this boy sent curling through the air around him. It was brighter than birdsong, and yet sad as a grave. It was such a lonely tune, and the Chinese captain found himself wondering how many friends and family the siren had.

"I know you're there."

Yao glanced up. The siren was looking at him. There was no one else in the room, so the pirate pulled himself through the cannon port and into the room. He crossed the floor and knelt beside the boy. "How'd you get caught~aru?"

The siren frowned. "I did something foolish. It doesn't matter."

"I want to know what you did, though…"

He sighed, glaring at the pirate. "…I'd never seen a live human before, okay? I was curious."

Yao choked on a laugh. "Never seen a- How old are you, anyways?"

"Sixteen. Why? I live on an island in the middle of nowhere. The only humans I saw were already dead."

"How'd they die?"

"I lured them onto the rocks. They carried pretty things…"

Yes. Of course. Many stories told of a hoard of stolen treasures a siren had taken from sailors drowned around their homes. But the matter-of-fact tone in which the boy stated that… It was just _wrong_.

"What about family? Friends? Surely someone would have shown you…"

The siren shrugged. The black robes concealing his frame shifted slightly as he did. "I don't have any friends. Or family. I'm all alone."

Yao couldn't even imagine living alone. Even when he was out pirating, he always knew his family was waiting for him. Always. And this child, he lived on an island, all alone, with no one to talk to or cling to when the pressure grew too intense…

He shook his head, drawing his sword and cutting easily through the shackles holding the boy in place. "Come on, I'll take you to my ship and we can go back to your island."

The siren's eyes widened. "You'd do that? You'd take me home?"

"Well, yes. You're too young to be caught up in this~aru."

The boy stood, pulling his robes a little tighter around him. He took Yao's wrist and pulled him towards the cannon port. "Okay. Let's go."

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

Back on the safe deck of Yao's ship, the siren smiled hesitantly. "This is a nice ship. It would a shame if anything happened to it… so I'll keep any other sirens in these waters away, okay?"

Without waiting for a reply, he jumped onto the bowsprit and tilted his head back, letting out a cry that was almost… feral. Sharp and fierce. Like a warning. Yao frowned. "What did you just do~aru?"

The siren blushed. "I… laid claim to this ship. It's now under my protection… until I choose to sink it myself. It will keep other sirens away."

"So this ship… is yours now?"

"Something like that, yes." The siren yawned sleepily. "But putting that much power into a call takes a lot of strength, so I'll just…" Before he could say anything else, his legs gave out under him and he crumpled to the deck. Yao barely managed to catch him before he could crack his head on the wood.

"Hey, hey~aru! Are you alright?"

"Uh huh." The siren opened one eye. "Just… tired."

"What's your name, anyway? You never did say."

"Hmm?" The boy frowned sleepily. "Oh. It's Kiku."

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

Kiku was impossible.

Yao would often head out onto the deck to take over the wheel, only to find the siren lounging on the back of the ship talking to the night helmsman. Or sometimes perched on the yardarm. Once even sitting before the wheel, keeping the ship steady while the helmsman napped in a corner. When asked, he'd said it was his idea, and surely it wasn't fair for one man to stay up all night, every night?

Once or twice the captain was awakened by a knock on his door and the boy's soft voice telling him they were entering a tricky stretch, and maybe he should take over the wheel? At those times, he'd send the night helmsman below decks and he and Kiku would just hang around the deck, Yao steering the ship and Kiku perched on the rail by the wheel, humming to himself.

Kiku was there through the whole debacle where it was discovered the night helmsman was actually a _girl_, and it was his suggestion that they keep her on that swayed the crew in favor of Yao's plan. After all, as Kiku said in that quiet, melodic voice of his, if a siren didn't bring bad luck, and if Elizabeta—the night helmsman- er, helmswoman—hadn't brought any troubles yet, surely it would be fine? Besides, she was good at what she did.

And sometimes Yao would wake up and go to the deck, and Kiku would just be balancing on the bowsprit and singing to himself as Elizabeta steered the ship and the stars listened silently. And it was at times like those that Yao wanted to keep the boy with him forever, even without the tear.

The two of them could spend hours talking about nothing, and Yao came to look forward to the times when he didn't have any work to do and he could just search the ship until he found the siren and could sit beside him and talk. He liked to think they were friends. It was a new feeling.

Slowly, as day turned into weeks turned into months, those feelings of friendship changed again. Eliza noticed first, even before he himself did, sending him amused glances whenever he went within a meter of Kiku. It was strange… and he'd never felt like this about another man- ah, boy… But, he assured himself, Kiku was a siren. It was natural to feel attracted to him. It didn't mean anything.

Yeah, right.

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

"Ready port cannons~aru!"

Yao handed the wheel off to one of his crew—_not_ Eliza; she was too busy preparing to kill people—and ran to view the situation. That British bastard Arthur had caught up to them sometime during the night; the night watchman had been found an hour or so ago with an arrow in his gut, which explained why he hadn't raised the alarm. Poor bastard.

Kiku ran up to join him. "I'm sorry; if you hadn't rescued me, he wouldn't have come after you."

Yao shook his head. "The bastard's been wanting to do this for years~aru. You're just a convenient excuse. Not your fault. Besides, I chose to rescue you."

"But-"

"Kiku," he interrupted, "it's not your fault. Got it? Besides, now I have a chance to defeat him once and for all~aru!" He struck a heroic pose. Kiku laughed.

"I suppose." The boy drew a sword from… somewhere and held it uncertainly in his left hand. "I… I'll help. I want to fight with you."

"Kiku, you can't! You've never been in battle before; it's too dangerous!"

"_I don't care!_" His dark eyes blazed fiercely. "Everyone on this ship has been so kind to me; if I didn't help you all now, I'd *_never_* be able to forgive myself! _Never!_"

Yao took a deep breath. "Alright. But _stay close_, got it? I don't want you to get hurt."

The siren nodded, tightening his grip on the sword. "Got it. Okay. Let's do this."

Yao smiled, touching his shoulder gently. "You'll be alright. I promise you that."

"You too, right?" The boy looked up at him worriedly. Almost desperately.

"I'll do my best~aru."

Kiku nodded, and the pair leapt across to the enemy ship amid the boom of cannons.

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

The two interlopers moved quietly across the ship. "Quiet now~aru. If we get caught before we find Arthur…"

Kiku nodded, shuddering. "Trust me. I know." He moved forward silently, glancing around the corner. "I think it's safe right now, though…"

"Oh really?"

The pair spun, turning to face Arthur. The Brit leered at Kiku. "Hello, boy. Enjoy your little stint of freedom?"

Yao leapt forward. "Leave him out of this~aru!"

"Aw, do you _care_ about him?" Arthur looked closer. "Oh. Ha! You're in _love_, my _dear friend_. In love with a _siren_, what would your precious family say about that?"

"I-" But he'd given Arthur the perfect opening. The other pirate lunged, taking advantage of Yao's distraction to stab deep into his chest, twisting the blade and deepening the wound. The Chinese pirate crumpled to the ground, barely even registering the way Kiku cried for him.

"Yao! You _bastard_!" The boy held his sword tightly, spinning to face Arthur. The pirate smirked, taking a step forward-

And Kiku _screamed_.

The force of the sound sent Arthur staggering back. All the siren's power was compressed into a single note, so strong and desperate that it burned away any resistance to his blade as he leapt forward and forced the blade into the pirate's heart.

The man was dead before he hit the ground. Kiku didn't even bother to look, instead spinning around and kneeling beside Yao. The older man smiled at him. "Sorry…aru. Looks like… I couldn't make it after all…"

"No! No, nononono! You're okay, you're okay, it's not that bad, I'll just-"

"Kiku." Yao rested a hand on the boy's. "It's alright~aru. Don't worry."

"Yao-" Kiku sobbed roughly. "Y-you can't die! I-I need you! I-I-I-"

"Look at me, Kiku. Stop panicking. You'll be fine-"

"_No!_ I won't be fine! Not without you! Yao, I- I _love_ you!"

Yao's eyes widened. "Oh, Kiku… We wasted so much time… I'm so sorry…"

"Yao…"

The older pirate lifted a shaky, bloodstained hand and brushed it through Kiku's hair, putting pressure on it until their lips touched. Kiku sobbed harshly against his lips, and something wet touched his skin. Kiku was… crying?

_The siren's tear…_ "Kiku, you…"

"I know what my tears can do," he murmured. "I… I won't let you die…"

A faint light glowed where the liquid touched, and Kiku moved until his tears fell directly into the wound. Yao could _feel_ the damage healing itself, feel the lost blood replicating. "Kiku…"

The siren smiled sadly, looking up at him. "We'll be okay now, right?"

"Of course~aru. I'll take care of you forever. I promise you that, Kiku."

And he kissed the boy again to seal the vow forever.

0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0v0-0

** Aw. Such sweethearts. If only I could fit cute moments like that last scene into Broken Assassin… Ah well. Off to find ChuNi fluff!**

**See you~!**

**-Bird**


End file.
